Beyond Smallville - Dragons Beckon
by gardy77
Summary: This alt-universe fic takes place late in Smallville's Season 12, as Lois and Clark encounter some new friends, and the trajectory of their lives change. Earth denizens now have to come to grip with the reality that humans are no longer alone in the universe. The Kandorians had been defeated at a high cost. Superman and Supergirl are forced into the public eye. Batman is suspicious
1. Chapter 1: Stardragon

**Beyond Smallville** : _Dragon's Beckon_

Author's note: As a salute to the upcoming 40th anniversary of the 1977 Star Wars Movie: A New Hope, episode 4, and the 50th anniversary of the broadcast premiere of the original Star Trek series, I decided to do this ambitious crossover with our favorite Smallville, Justice League, Arrow, and Flash TV series. I was pleasantly surprised when Legends of Tomorrow went time travel – Sci-Fi as well.

As I continue to challenge myself, I'll try and incorporate elements of these famous movies and TV series into this new story titled **Dragon's Beckon**. I noted that the old 1990's Justice League, Batman, and Superman cartoons toyed a lot with science fiction, so it's also a genre crossover. The _Dragon's_ _Beckon_ first appears in my fan fiction classic called **Time Shards** , which was one of the first fan fics that I ever wrote. This alt universe crossover expands on that story a bit.

This alt-universe fic takes place late in Smallville's Season 12, as Lois and Clark encounter some new friends, and the trajectory of their lives change. Earth denizens now have to come to grip with the reality that humans are no longer alone in the universe. The Kandorians had been defeated, but at a high cost. Superman and Supergirl are forced to 'come out' in a very public way. The years of secrets are now over.

The Batman is suspicious of Superman and Supergirl, and as Bruce Wayne, he heads to Metropolis to investigate. Reports have begun to come into the public eye of space aliens and Metahumans. Clark and Kara have to face the new challenge of duplicity, as they try and maintain two distinctly separate lives. Their roles as Earth's protectors are questioned by the governments of the world.

A very public and obvious arrival goads the young superheroes into attracting the attention of all of Earth's peoples. Some awkward moments lead to a new friendship, and forces the dysfunctional Justice League into existence, with Oliver and Jon Jonz as their founders. They must quickly learn to work together as a team, as humanity looks to them for guidance.

Chloe also worries, given their generally horrible experience with Off-Worlders. How would anyone react if they found out without question that many other types of beings inhabit the universe? Her role as Watchtower would necessarily have to expand, as the Justice League adds members.

Character list – Clark, Lois, Kara, Oliver, Chloe, Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, Gold Wing, Flash, Lantern, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Lucy Lane, Sam Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Cat Grant, Perry White, Aquaman, Dinah Drake, Tim Drake, Dr. Hugo Strange as well as new characters.

 **Beyond Smallville** : _Dragon's Beckon_

Pilot story –part 1 _Stardragon_ , part 2 _Prey_

In a distant edge of the galaxy commonly known by its residents as The Milky Way, a battle is being fought. Scene – Nine spacecraft are encircling a tenth. The attacking ships surround their prey, cutting off every possible exit angle. The illuminations of a bright red orange star frame the shadowy hulks of the warships, as their deadly silhouettes hang in the relative silence of space.

The object of their attention is a silver colored, single, large, wedge shaped starship. It has an elongated nose, four V-shaped retractable wings, a flat triangular tail, and four bluish green plasma vents are visible at the ship's rear. Their glow seems to dim as the entrapped travelers slow the ship's speed. The ejected plasma bursts begin to cool, as the ship stops at the exact center of the trap.

As we draw in closer, we see that atop the midsection of the ship protrudes a single black shark-like fin. Below that fin lies a well-lit vivid orange and yellow control center. The light reflects off the sleek starship's hull. A smaller black shark fin begins to retract slowly into the bottom of the ship. Several open weapon ports are visible, as the well-lit cargo bay door at the ship's rear begins to close.

The nine ships surrounding their prey are all black, and vary in size and shape. Only the light from their control and command centers, weapons ports, and plasma vents are visible. All of the open weapons ports are trained on the entangled ship. Occasionally some minor bluish green plasma bursts indicate the ships direction change as they readjust their trajectories. They all focus on the ensnared catch.

We zoom in on the command center of the harassed starship. "We're in it, now Captain!" a bluish hued humanoid about a full half meter taller than an average human says. "You always state the obvious, Mareki." A young alien female humanoid responds from the control center's command chair. She gazes at the view screen on the main ship's console, and checks the status of the attacking fleet.

The female captain is basically human looking, but she has extra-large violet colored eyes and large pointed ears that poke through her lengthy mane of hair. "Captain Stardragon!" a frantic voice booms across the command center via the inter ship communications speaker located close to the captain's chair. "Yes Amik? What have you got for me?" The young commander seemed confident, despite the dire situation. The rest of her immediate crew members busily kept watch on their console stations.

"I can give you ninety percent weapons power. I have reconfigured the weapons array to fire at all targets at random intervals, while we do a complete spin." The engineer informed her. "That should prove sufficient, Lieutenant Kazz." The captain praised her subordinate.

"I have also modulated the firing frequencies of the plasma bursts to change direction, strength, and intensity. That ought to penetrate their shields, while providing quite the distraction, literally confusing and blinding their sensors." The engineer continued. "Thank you, Lt. Kazz." The commander added. "May the Tide flow with us all." She turned towards her First Officer. "Commander Z'Beth, are our opponents still closing in on us?" She questioned. "Yes Captain Ryla. The Dark Fleet lies in waiting."

Their captors had been slowly adjusting their trajectories to tighten the invisible noose. Commander Z'Beth was from a species called the Felinahri, which were indigenous to Ryla Stardragon's home world. The tall, tan colored Felinahri resembled a bipedal version of a large Earth predator similar to a cougar or mountain lion. Z'Beth had large jade green slanted eyes, and her skin was covered from head to toe in a light brown fur, cropped short. Though she stood erect, Z'Beth tended to hunch her back.

The young Felinahri officer sported a large lengthy darker brown tail that whipped about when she was concentrating on something. Next to her at the communications console was a young very human-like colleague. She ducked below the frenzied swishing tail of her superior officer. Ariana Ti resembled an Earth female teenager with lengthy raven black hair tied back in a ponytail.

No one really knew where the homeless girl had come from. Captain Stardragon had caught young Ariana trying to steal supplies and food from an Imperial Star Destroyer on a neutral planet's trading base. Instead of reporting her and subjecting Ariana to the Imperial Guild's arrest, torture, and possible execution, Ryla chose to cover for the orphaned girl and put her to work on the _Dragon's Beckon_ , Captain Stardragon's personal starship, as a communications operator trainee.

"Captain!" Ariana's shrill voice cut into the relative silence of the command center. "The lead ship of the Black Fleet, _The Death's Head_ , is demanding our unconditional surrender!" The youngster reported excitedly. "Are they?" Ryla smirked, flashing a bright toothy smile, a very human-like reaction. "Let them hear static, Cadet Ariana." She scoffed. "Showtime! Attention ship wide! We are about to embark on a new sanctioned mission." The young commander addressed her crew and passengers.

The _Dragon's Beckon_ carried a full complement of twenty crew members, with cargo space that was easily converted to cramped living space for one hundred. Today's roll call indicated that there were twenty seven sentient beings on board, around forty odd drones, droids, probes, and other robotic assistants, and four inter-atmospheric skiffs, and six slim, one man Starfighters in the launch bay.

"Please take a moment to secure all movable cargo. There are large cargo nets, strapping, and magnetic channel locks available." Ryla directed. "After which, secure yourselves, and prepare for a battle. Please comply immediately! Command out!" The bridge crew of Mareki, Ariana, Z'Beth secured themselves to their seats. One diplomat, Counselor Exid Bellax frowned as he complied, seated in the observation area.

Ryla turned to her Star Drive Initiator, Kim Mareki. "SDI, power down all of the ship's systems except Life Support and Weapons Array." She spoke quickly and sternly. "Yes Captain." The pilot complied. It would take a few moments for the SDI to shut down, and the crew and passengers to become settled. Ariana visibly gulped as she awaited her next orders. Z'Beth busily scanned the movements of the Black Fleet.

"Lt. Mareki, set coordinates for Sector 001." Ryla ordered calmly as she closed her large violet eyes. "Sector 001?" Mareki questioned, looking for confirmation and parroting her command. "Yes Lt. We'll go straight there through the portal we create with our Star Drive." Counselor Bellax scowled. "Isn't Sector 001 uninhabited? Is this a First Contact situation?" He questioned. "That's what all current star maps indicate." Z'Beth affirmed. Bellax, the lifelong politician, was skeptical.

"There are a few inhabited planets within Sector 001, but the general population is unaware of this." Ryla added. "We will confirm the rumors through analysis." She said, and knew that she'd felt through The Tide that this was true. Ryla had never been trained by the Masters of The Tide, so her knowledge and use of it was nominal. She could feel the presence of beings in Sector 001, but couldn't really get an exact location on them. Ryla's eyes still remained closed as she tried to focus The Tide energy.

"The Tide surrounds us, guides us, fills us, and we can control it to some degree." Ryla stated calmly. "A mentor had once told me that when you are calm, peaceful, confident, you will feel The Tide, and use its energy to focus and control the situation. You can turn this to your advantage." Ryla felt her mind begin to relax. "Commander Mareki, fire all weapons at my order." She directed, though her voice seemed to come from somewhere else. The big blue alien's eyes lit up. "Did you say fire?" He repeated.

"Yes Commander, fire on my command." Ryla's voice dropped off to a whisper. Her head drooped into her lap, and her arms fell limply across the edges of her chair. To the crew it appeared that Captain Stardragon had suddenly collapsed. "Captain!" Mareki shouted, but before anyone could get up to help her, Ryla's head snapped back up. Her purplish eyes were now wide open, but hazy and unfocussed.

The young starship captain clamped her hands together and slowly turned them like she was wringing out a rag. "Fire!" Ryla shouted the directive. Mareki did as instructed, though he was skeptical. The _Dragon's Beckon_ spun in place like a child's toy, rotating a complete 360 degrees. All plasma missiles, laser cannons, and electrical impulse disrupters fired at the Black Fleet simultaneously.

As predicted, the heavily outgunned starship's weapons penetrated many of the Black Fleet's shields. The varied ammunitions impacted _the Death's Head, Death's Eye_ , and _Dominator'_ s port nacelles, weapons bays, exhaust manifolds, and the EID knocked out the _Death's Head's_ stabilizers. The Black Fleet flagship soon drifted aimlessly, getting in the way of the smaller ships.

Ryla, meanwhile, took a deep breath and spread her arms wide like she'd just manually opened some cargo bay's doors. The Black Fleet scattered like a pack of frightened flying reptiles from her home world. The ships desperately tried not to run into one another. Their speeds fluctuated to avoid any contact. Instantly, Lt. Mareki punched the _Dragon's Beckon's_ hyper drive.

The starship lurched forward, increasing its speed from a dead stop. It quickly split the Black Fleet's defenses, zipping into a hyperspace portal. The ride was short but very costly. The _Dragon's Beckon_ popped out on the other side of the portal, creating a warp bubble cone amid a torrent of debris. Ryla slumped back in her seat, as her head tilted over to one side at an odd angle.

Commander Mareki, with the help of Z'Beth had regained control of the ship. "What in the name of all that is revered was all that about?" Counselor Bellax complained. "Where are we?" he demanded. "We have arrived within Sector 001." Ariana informed them, though her voice was shaky. Z'Beth verified the ship system's stated coordinates. "We are in what's known as an asteroid belt." The lanky Felinahri reported. "Terrific!" Bellax bellowed. "Captain Stardragon, are you alright?" Mareki asked with concern. Ryla's head had picked up slightly, though her eyes were closed, and her ears wiggled.

Far away on Earth, Lois Lane reclined on an old wraparound porch, placing her head in Clark Kent's lap. He placed his muscular arm around her slim shoulders. Lois looked up at the dark, but starlit night sky above Smallville, Kansas. "Clark? Did you see that shooting star?" She asked in a low tone. "Nope! I guess that I missed it Lois." He replied. "You have to be more observant, Clark." Lois playfully chided him. "You'd think with that x-ray vision of yours, you'd never miss a thing." She needled.

The couple had been enjoying a rare quiet evening amid the chaos of their new life together. At any moment, Superman might have to dash off and save someone or a group of people from harm. Clark had recently 'come out' as Superman, using Lois Lane as an excuse. The backstory the two had come up with along with the others, framed mild-mannered newbie reporter, Clark Kent, as a point of contact for Superman and Supergirl. This conveniently enabled the aliens to cover their aliases.

The publicly 'leaked' reports from The Daily Planet, pegged Lois Lane and Clark Kent as 'good friends' with their alter egos. Young Kara Kent had also joined the Daily Planet staff as a cub reporter. Chloe Sullivan-Queen had created a brand new backstory for her as well. Kara Kent was Clark's orphaned 'cousin from Minnesota'. These cover stories all held up under scrutiny so far.

Senator Martha Kent had graciously vouched for Kara, though since the alien was over eighteen years old, there wasn't any need to give Kara an official guardian. To the rest of the world, Kara Kent was just a simple relative that had moved in with Clark and Martha 'to save money' until she could afford her own place in Metropolis or beyond. Unfortunately, the recent national financial crisis had left a myriad of properties in foreclosure. Many farms, homes, condos, and such were currently abandoned.

With their new cover stories, Clark and Kara would have to quickly adjust to living a life of complete duplicity. Lois, Chloe, and Oliver had banded together to make sure the aliens' backstories were airtight. Now more than ever since the Kandorians had publicly attracted international attention, Clark and Kara's lives would grow more complicated. The American government had sent tons of Federal investigators to the Daily Planet, and to Senator Martha Kent's Washington DC office.

A new element had also been entered into the complex social equation. Bruce Wayne, the young billionaire, had come to Metropolis to investigate the Kandorian fiasco, and to hopefully meet the allegedly benevolent aliens. He'd grown more suspicious every day with regard to 'unusual and sometimes inexplicable' occurrences. These odd events had been happening for a while now.

Bruce had been losing sleep over this new set of problems. Back in Gotham, a new type of leadership had emerged to run the city. The liberal idealists had been investigating Arkham Asylum, and installed a new prison slash rehab facilitator named Hugo Strange, who held a doctorate in mental health.

Most of the psychotic criminals that Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing had put away had been freed on a series of liberal initiated technicalities. It had become clear to Bruce, that he could no longer control the criminal element efficiently. Commissioner James Gordon agreed. They had been drowning in bureaucratic red tape for months now.


	2. Chapter 2: Arrival

**Dragon's Beckon 2**

The intergalactic trader turned Republic spy, Capt. Ryla Stardragon, sat in her command chair in the middle of the command center. The inter ship communications console crackled to life. "What in the Lords of the Sith are we doing here?" An agitated Lt. Kazz's voice boomed across the ship's bridge. Ryla began to stir. The Felinahri hybrid, Lt. Commander Z'Beth ( Zee Ah Bith) skillfully piloted the starship away from the asteroid belt, known locally as the Kuiper Belt. She guided the sleek cargo slash fighter ship in between the gaseous rings of Saturn. "Location, Commander Mareki?" Ryla's weak voice was barely audible. The young captain suddenly sat up straight in her chair.

She placed her head in her hands. The use of the Tide, a mysterious force believed to inhabit the entire universe, had drained Ryla physically and mentally. "We are located in Sector 001, between the sixth and seventh planets of the local solar system." The blue skinned alien's deep throaty voice broke the uneasy silence, as he replied formally. "Very well." Ryla's voice was normally high, but now it sounded hoarse and low. "Scan for life forms, Commander Z'Beth." The Republic captain ordered.

"In progress, Captain." The catlike senior crewman responded. "All lifeforms are centralized on the third planet from the yellow dwarf star." The gangly Felinahri confirmed as she put the planet in question on the massive view screen for all to see. She sent the image throughout the rest of the ship. All crewmen and passengers had access to some form of viewable device. "Is that what I think it is?" The youngest crew member, Ariana Ti, gasped as she spoke. "Yes Ariana, welcome to Earth." Ryla quipped.

The Rebel Captain flashed her young charge a toothy grin. "They do exist!" Commander Mareki said incredulously as he shifted in his seat to fully view the planet with a bluish hue. "Behold the legend behind our ancestral birth." Ryla remarked philosophically as her voice began to strengthen. "Many current lifeforms scattered throughout the universe are believed to be descendants from Earth, and by definition, the human race." The fascinated starship captain continued. "They were bipedal, somewhat hairless, and possessed the capacity to learn. They also fought amongst themselves frequently."

"We are possibly looking at our ancestors?" Ariana asked warily. "Some of us are, yes." Ryla conceded. "We are all bound together through the flow of The Tide. Z'Beth and I are members of the D'Zan (Dee Ah Zonn) race, though we are physically different. The distances between our worlds and this one are examples of a space and time differential nexus." Ryla patiently explained.

"We are actually looking into the past?" Z'Beth tried to wrap her high speed Felinahri brain around the concept. "From a certain point of view, yes." Ryla agreed. "We are observing our past while the beings of Earth, upon seeing us, would be glancing into their future. The future is always in motion, though."

"Can we scan Earth with our probe systems?" Ariana asked eagerly. "Sure." Ryla authorized. "Captain Stardragon!" Counselor Bellax was agitated as he spoke. "Why have you brought us here? Under whose authority?" Ryla stared blankly at the rotund yellow skinned politician. "You weren't briefed before the mission?" She asked evasively. "Let's assess the situation first. This may yet be considered a fool's errand." Ryla offered him a verbal olive branch. "As to the authority…" Ryla's large eyes narrowed.

"We are here under the highest available authority. The leader of the High Council, Master Elyan ordered us here." Ryla hoped to silence the boisterous lifelong politician. "Master Elyan?" Bellax scoffed. "I had thought that you and the Dragon's Beckon crew were independent traders." He shifted his large buttocks uneasily in the seat. "We are." Ryla confirmed. "However, the leader of the resistance required us to inspect Sector 001. We are being compensated financially for this dangerous venture."

Bellax, possibly for the first time in his life, was speechless. "What could we possibly want from engaging this backwards sector?" he asked after a moment of stunned silence. "We want only to help save the future of this galaxy, and likely, the as yet to be determined future of our species." Ryla answered coldly. Bellax gulped as the rest of the bridge crew stared at him.

Ryla then turned her attention to Marreki and Z'beth. "Sciences and navigation what is the current state of the Dragon's Beckon?" She asked officially, all seriousness again. "We have escaped the clutches of the Black Fleet, its interdictor ships, and small advanced fighter ships, without being followed through the hyperspace gate portal." Mareki began. "We have arrived at the stated coordinates of Sector 001, and are now in orbit between the solar system's two largest planets."

"Our orbit is stable though some of ship's systems are non-functional." Z'beth filled in the details. "Engineering and propulsion, what is the health of our ship's star drive units?" Ryla spoke clearly and distinctly into the internal communication console. "Captain, after that stunt we pulled, the hyper drive motivator will have to be replaced, and the star drive control units have overloaded. We have the spare parts on board for the SDCU and HD Motivator, but I hope that you're not in a hurry to get anywhere."

"Thank you Lt. Kazz, take your time." Ryla spoke confidently and regally. "Our mission is likely to take quite a while." She added mysteriously. "Captain, we are likely visible to the current Earth denizens' tracking technology." Mareki pointed out. "That's fine, commander, we aren't here in stealth mode." Ryla commented. "Our mission…" she paused for dramatic effect, "…is to contact the human population. "Besides, the cloaking technology we have would use too much power." The young trader turned resistance fighter sent shock and awe through everyone's minds.

 **Earth I** – _Gray Hill Observatory_

"What in the name of…?" Professor Tara Keegan exclaimed, startling her Astronomy Major colleague, Chandler Evans. "Chan! Take a look at this!" Tara gestured towards the feedback loop from one of Earth's most accurate and expansive electron telescopes _._ "What the hell is that?" Chandler shouted, nearly falling out of his chair. "I'm checking for inconsistencies in the diagnostic program now." Tara informed him. "No. All systems are functioning within normal parameters."

Chan stared blankly at the computer monitor. "We need to all take a look at this!" He said excitedly. "I'm sending this to all of the techies within our group. Professor Kim will have the final say so on what to do about this. What do we even call this apparition? An anomaly?" Tara scowled. "That's putting it mildly." Her thin fingers flew across the keyboard of the telescopic controls. "I'm photographing the anomaly in rapid succession as well as streaming the video feed on line to Professor Kim."

"If he okays it, we can circulate the feed in real time throughout the observatory." Tara offered. "I'll measure the approximate size and composition of the anomaly." Chan volunteered. "I'll synch the trajectory and telemetry to our tracking program. Whoa! This is no comet, asteroid, or random space debris!" Chan shouted as Tara glanced over his shoulder. "It's slowly moving towards us under some type of independent power source!" Tara froze as she stopped fiddling with her own monitor.

"Did you just say power source, Chan?" The first year grad student said. "Yes! It's moving at a slow and steady pace right…right over to Mars! It seems to be orbiting it!" Chan answered. "It's now orbiting Mars?" Tara said warily in a total state of disbelief. "Forget Professor Kim!" She shouted. "We need to notify NASA!" Chandler shook his head. "If we can see the anomaly, so can NASA." He objected. "This looks like…um…a spacecraft!" He added nervously. Tara gaped at him. "What are you saying?" She gulped. "Tara, that thing is twice the size of an aircraft carrier. I double checked the data."

Tara sat next to her stunned colleague. "Chan, what if this is the vanguard of an invasion force? Remember a couple of years ago when those aliens attacked Earth and Superman and Supergirl were able to defeat them?" The astronomy major gulped. "Maybe they're coming to pick up Superman and Supergirl, even though Lois Lane wrote that the two of them were orphaned." Chan recalled.

"That's a nice positive spin, Chandler." The new voice was that of Professor Kim. He walked into the observation room with his hands behind his back in a relaxed posture. "I believe that Miss Lane stated that they were actually intergalactic refugees from a long destroyed world." Kim clarified. "I assure you that NASA and everyone else already know about the anomaly. I was just informed by the higher ups that Vice President Hannah Anders has personally notified Superman and Supergirl."

"At least the black helicopters won't be coming to pick us up." Tara remarked cynically. "I doubt that if I'd do well in captivity." Chan cast her a sidelong glance. "Director Simons has also informed me that we weren't expecting any intergalactic visitors." Kim commented briefly. Tara and Chan stared at their supervisor blankly. "What is it that they want, and where are they from?" Tara questioned worriedly.

"That my young friends, is the main question." Kim shook his head. "All attempts to contact the spaceship or whatever it is, have failed and our communication technology is currently far too slow even if the visitors could receive and understand it." Kim informed them. "I assume that Superman would fly out there and talk to them, whoever they are." Tara shivered as she spoke.

"That would be my guess." Kim agreed. "Let us hope that even the Man of Steel and his cousin can bring this to a satisfactory conclusion, without them getting in over their heads." Chandler shifted in his seat. "All that we can do is speculate, and my guess is that we won't even know the answers, since we're so far down on the communication pole." Kim shrugged. "The bureaucratic red tape is entangled at all levels." Kim added. "All we can do is focus on our jobs and be ready for anything."

Lois Lane jumped out of her comfy cubicle chair, nearly causing her hot cup of coffee to go flying. With quick reactions, she managed to snag her cup and return it solidly onto her desktop. "Are you kidding me, Perry?" Lois's voice rose as her boss, Chief Editor Perry White, explained the situation as quickly as he could over her Smart phone. Lois resettled the Red Tooth connector above her ear.

"No I'm not, sweetie." Perry responded. Perry was the only person outside of Clark, and their family, that Lois allowed to address her in that manner. "The boys at NASA are going silent." Perry continued. Lois heard the sounds of traffic in the background. Apparently, Perry was outdoors and just happened to be at a conference in Washington DC. Vice President Anders had just addressed the media briefly.

"The only reason that I know that much, is because my nephew David's fiancé, Perrin, works in the undersecretary's office. She told him that NASA in Houston went dark for approximately twenty minutes. Vice President Anders simply gave a general warning to the public about possible service interruptions with cell phones, satellite feeds, and televised broadcasts. Something stinks, Lo' and it isn't the local fish market here in DC. VP Anders is a smart cookie, but I can tell that she's holding something back. Cape Canaveral scrapped a few cargo launches to the International Space Station."

"I hope that Perrin doesn't get into any trouble about this. Washington DC has been leaking like a sieve over the last few months. President Ocampo is probably going to go down in defeat in the fall election. Lord knows that no one I associate with ever shoots her mouth off and gets everyone into trouble." He added the playful dig as Lois snickered loudly. She switched her internet streamer onto the INN NewsNet. INN carried the latest breaking stories from all over the world.

"Perry! I grabbed the Wicked Leaks website, and they claim that a spacecraft of unknown origin has begun to orbit Mars!" Lois shouted excitedly at the Chief Editor, so she could drown out the traffic noise. "I'm skeptical of Wicked Leaks, Lo'." Perry admitted. "True, but they have a huge following, and have been hitting story after story on the mark." Lois stated.

Lois and Clark, as well as Kara, had been recent victims of hoaxes involving some alleged aliens attacking city neighborhoods, schools, and even waterparks. Since Superman and Supergirl had gone public, the Daily Planet had been inundated with faux UFO sightings, and abduction reports. People that wanted their fifteen minutes of fame claimed that relatives of the friendly aliens had come to visit them in the middle of the night. One odd woman had claimed that a UFO abducted her and performed indecent experiments on her. Most of the reports came from wackos, but one never really knew for sure.

Lois transferred Perry to her SKYPE. "Hey Lo', can you have Superman or Supergirl check it out?" Perry asked politely, smelling another possible exclusive for the Daily Planet Media. "Sure, Perry. Don't forget that it's not as if I can just give one of them a call, E Mail, or text message." She quipped. "No, I s'pose not." Perry sounded disheartened. "How can we contact them in case of an emergency?" He wondered aloud. Perry's as insistent as always, Lois thought sourly. "I'll give Clark a call." She volunteered.

"Apparently, Clark and Superman have become BFF." Lois said half seriously. Ridiculously, it wasn't so long ago that Clark had become jealous of Superman, she mused with a smirk. How can he become jealous of himself? She wondered. "Maybe they're out fishing together." Lois added sarcastically. "Thanks, Lo'." Perry's mood brightened. "Keep me posted. I'm grabbing the next flight back to Metropolis. This boring ass conference is now over." He groused. "Don't these people work for a living?"

Lois laughed loudly. "Will do, Chief." She said as she flipped off the SKYPE, and grabbed her cell phone.

Thousands of objects fall from space into the superheated Earth atmosphere every day. Very few manage to make ground fall, many others fall unnoticed into the Earth's oceans. Once in a great while, an object from space garners attention, usually in the form of a bright fireball. Meteors, asteroid pieces, comet pieces, and general space junk tend to light up the night sky if they're large enough and hot enough. This time things would be different. Arrival. Earth was on the universal grid now.

 _ **Central Nebraska, USA**_. The foggy glen would provide good coverage from prying eyes. Most of Nebraska was flat, farmland, myriads of stalks of corn, wheat, groves of fruits, and vegetables dotted the landscape. The dark, moonless night would aid the approach vector. A blink of light, a mere flash of a few seconds, and the stalks of corn wavered rapidly like a downburst of wind in a thunderstorm.

Dozens of cornstalks were suddenly flattened, and some burst into flames, ignited by what? A hissing sound was heard by no one in the quiet dead of night. The flames were doused by a white and green blast of air. Ice crystals began to form on the radius of damaged grains. The affected area was about the size of a common school bus. It was warm and humid. Where had the ice crystals come from?

A sleek, black and silver metallic object suddenly shimmered into view, seen by no one. The wedge shaped device resembled a common kite, each edge of it was sharp and there were no flaws anywhere along its shiny surface. At the rear, a bluish green blast of heat suddenly cooled into white steam. There was another hissing sound. A dark blue light pierced the darkness as the object's side opened up.

A silhouette appeared against the backdrop of the light. It was obviously a shadowy form of a woman. Another brilliant red light appeared, yet it was no more than a meter in length. It crisscrossed the shadow's svelte body. There was another hissing sound, and the dark blue light disappeared.


End file.
